After Life Ends. Poem by Nabakishore Dash

Mother's womb to crematorium/tomb
is the journey of
our lives.
In between we toil hard
to adorn ourselves with
many nouns and adjectives.

One's birth starts with his/her
own cries and other's rejoice.
The demise is an event
Just the reverse.

We brought nothing at our
entry into the cosmos.
We leave here all we amassed
along with the grandiose.

Many would stop
at the gate of the house.
Few would come to tomb
and cremation ground.

Put the corpse on funeral pyre,
ignite it by a stick of fire.
It turns into a small mound of ashes,
thereby closing life's chapter.

Literate and illiterate,
leader and labour,
rich and poor.
No distinction exists,
death is a great equalizer.

Whether the cadaver is decorated
with a garland of shoes or flower,
Whether burnt by sandal wood
and ghee,
Or wood and kerosene
does not matter.

Relatives may remember you only
for some days or a brief period.
Time and the rest of the world
never care as you are one
among the myriads.

Birth brings all maladies,
marriage ends all comedies,
death ends all tragedies
till we devise and detect
any remedies.

What accompanies us
and where we do go?
Whether deeds, divine or devil,
whether to heaven or hell,
no one knows.